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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bendris Noulg" data-source="post: 1438636" data-attributes="member: 6398">Not neccessarily the case, however.  For instance, with the Skill, an individual group may do any of the following: -Declare the attempt and roll (minimum RP)-Describe the attempt and roll (2nd Person)-Give a brief approximation of the attempt and roll (abbreviated 1st Person)-Portray a detailed and intricate discussion and roll (1st Person) And, in any of these instances, the GM may determine to remove the roll and just have highest modifier succeed.  In the later three, it's possible for the GM to have pre-determined responses to specific factors of the PCs attempt (Example NPC Notes: "The Baron does everything possible to disguise the fact that he's being manipulated by the evil priest, but will break down in tears should a PC ask where his daughter is."). This is why I say that experienced players and GMs can change the way it works easily enough.  Or, think of it this way: The rules permit marketing to target the widest possible customer base, while the GM has the responsibility of making the game work for the individual group. In contrast, Feats often work the opposite way: Most are physical actions or have their effects within another action.  Whirlwind attack is attacking everyone adjacent to you; Skill Focus is extra competance regarding actions involving the selected Skill; Enlarge Spell changes the way a spell functions.  There isn't really that much to expand on with them, except descriptively, and if there is anything "more" to go with mechanically, then it's usually a Feat Tree or it snaps into another Skill or Feature (like Track to Survival or Divine Feats to Turning). Also bare in mind that Feats (particularly "Feat Trees" and Feats with high requirements) are scaled in the same way as Skills.  That is, while higher Skill Ranks allow more impressive actions based on those skills, Feats climb up in a similar manner.  Compare 4 Ranks>7 Ranks>9 Ranks>11 Ranks to Weapon Focus>Weapon Specialization>Greater Weapon Focus>Greater Weapon Specialization. Again, though, is a matter of application.  For instance, the only problem I see with Prestige Classes is that they are used more often by players to pre-map their characters into uber optimization and then, as a result, used by GMs to keep up with the over-the-top PCs.  If this isn't what you want, then don't let it happen. For example, where you describe it as "social roles become Prestige Classes", I see a social role that the character must assume through role-play in order to gain access to the Prestige Class.  For instance, to gain the High Lord Mage Prestige Class, you must first gain the "office" of High Lord Mage, or to become the Defender of the Northern Woods, you must actually be in the Northern Woods defending it.  Either way, the character must actually be the role in order to obtain the mechanics for it, and that is done in-game. And again, Prestige Classes fall into the same "ease of use" aspect as skills.  That is to say, Prestige Classes do not include "role-playing requirements" because of the wide variation of relevance such requirements may have.  There is nothing preventing a GM from adding such requirements.  In fact, most of my campaign's Prestige Classes have mechanical requirements that are easy to aquire, but they include RP-based elements that require specific conditions in-game to be met.  Make these requirements (both mechanical and RP-based, and even the Prestige Classes themselves) something that is learned of in-game rather than being listed out, and you've completely changed the way Prestige Classes are gained and applied to characters, returning them to the status given to them in the (3.0) DMG (I'd like to assume this didn't change in 3.5, but I've not seen the new DMG yet...). The game starts with the rules.  It ends where ever you take it.</blockquote>

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